Sports

Washington Redskins Week #16 Preview: Jacksonville Jaguars

*If the 2010 Washington Redskins (5-9) were that vintage holidayÂ board gameÂ you were hoping for under the tree on Saturday, it would be a collection of round player pieces with a multitude of square position holes. Head Coach Mike Shanahan would be the mallet you would need to hammer with. The object of the game is to pound away hard for sixty minutes but find a creative way to lose at the end. First, Donovan McNabb. So much success in Philly. But you had to wonder why Andy Reid would ever trade a star within the division. What a fool HTTR Nation thought that bowl full of jelly Reid was. Think again.Â McNabb struggled from the onset and just wasn’t a fit for Kyle Shanahan’s system. Two high drafts lost for a quarterback who plays thirteen games. We got Scrooged! Blunderous move that remindsÂ us of the GM Ghosts of Seasons Past. And in theÂ contest where you bench McNabb and cause a firestorm, #5 is named the captain in Dallas and asked to go out to the giant star in Big D for the coinflip. Could call this version of our board game, “Little Dictator’s Powertrip.”

Rex Grossman was such a square, unpopular pick to start last week’s game vs. the Cowboys. Almost threw the entire box to the floor and stomped your feet in a temper tantrum. But Rex was a far better fit for those equally square position holes. Led the Redskins to 30 points for the first time in a year. Threw four touchdown passes and a pair of two-point conversions in rallying the team back from a 20-point second-half deficit. Of course, it was Grossman’s two horrendous first-half turnovers that gift wrapped fourteen points for the home Pokes. And a loss is a loss. This isn’t another popular 80’s X-mas gift: horseshoes. Close doesn’t count. And Grossman is a free-agent-to-be in two weeks. Can Bruce Allen & Company really sellÂ him as the face ofÂ the franchise in 2011….the Washington Rexskins? Not even in the half-priceÂ after-the-holiday binÂ stillÂ liquored up on spiked egg nog!

Defensively, the pieces were never there for the 3/4 peg game to operate. Like playing Operation with oven mitts on. Albert Haynesworth, your $100,000,000 game piece, didn’t like clogging up the middle of the surgical procedure. So like a 350-pound cancerous tumor, had to be cut and removed. And as these mismatched pieces struggled to fit, the last-ranked unit in the NFL continued to get lit up. Like the ugly little tree in a Charlie Brown Christmas. Some of the more talented gingerbread men, like LaRon Landry, lost or injured limps early and could simply never be replaced.

You wonder how focused this Skins team will be. Nothing on the line. Having to travel on Christmas Day. To play a Jacksonsville Jaguar (8-6) team that technically still has a chance at the playoffs. In vintage Jack Del Rio fashion, the Jags gagged a week ago in Indianapolis with a chance to bury Peyton Manning and the defending AFC Champion Indianapolis Colts. Instead. stud running back Maurice Jones-Drew was held to under fifty yards and a late onsides kick was returned all the way for a backbreaking touchdown. That couldÂ be the turning point in the Jags season. But there is still hope. So there should be fire in the holiday fireplace. And Old Saint Shanny could continue to getÂ those mammoth ego-sized chestnuts roasted.

It’s the third go-round for the â€œPICCA WINNER: Redskins’ Trivia/Predict The Score Contest.â€ The winner will once again receive a copy of the best-selling book, â€œNo!I’m Watching Footballâ€ by award-winning author Tony Caputo. It is a classic for every sports fan who spends a ton of time watching gridiron action on the tube. (Hint: it makes a great late stocking stuffer and Tony will personalize a message on each book!)

It’s a two-part challenge so read carefully: 1) You must answer the trivia question correctly, 2) You must pick the winning team and be closest to the score on both ends. The link to this story must appear on either your Facebook or Twitter WALL to be eligible. (So make sure I am added to one or the other.) You must cut and paste the entry below with your answers in a private email to me (danpicca@gmail.com). In the event of a tie, the first person to get their entry in wins. Submissions will only be accepted until an hour before kickoff. The winner will be announced in my weekly recap article. The book will be mailed to you. Good luck!